


A Price to Pay

by MsUnOwen



Series: By a dagger bound [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, DO Belle, Dark One Belle (Once Upon a Time), Gen, Manipulation, Minor Violence, Morally Grey Belle, The Enchanted Forest (Once Upon a Time), becoming the Dark One, kind of anyway, the dark one - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29582103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsUnOwen/pseuds/MsUnOwen
Summary: Stories are often about how the fair princess was rescued from the monster. None of them tells how the princess became one.
Relationships: Belle & Maurice | Moe French, Belle & Zozo the dark one
Series: By a dagger bound [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2173332
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	A Price to Pay

**Author's Note:**

> This work is going to be the first part of a three part story I´m writing about Belle as the dark one. The first oneshot will be about how she became the dark one. The second how she was as the dark one in the enchanted forrest and the third about her time in Storybrook. I don´t really want to go into too much detail because the other parts of this story are not written yet. Anyway I hope you like it. Feel welcome to review and add kudos.

Belle looked out of the window, people were gathering to the church for bread. Forming a line. To her however the line looked like a massaker. Men and women tore at each other's clothes forcing themselves forward with no regard to the people around them. Some even stopped to fight one another. Blood landing on the streets amongst the thick layer of dirt. Creating small but noticeable puddles.

She hated that it had come to this. That people had almost forgotten how to treat each other with kindness, that they fought on the streets in times of war, how every day had transformed into a battle so quickly and the starvation… gods the starvation. As if they didn't have enough problems their food was starting to run out. The ogres had destroyed several farms making Avonlea´s main food supply almost non-existent. The little which was left was being rationed, not just for the common people but to the nobility and the crown. So far they had been lucky they had made it this far but the days were growing colder and soon there wouldn't be any food left. Avonlea´s trade partners had stopped the deliveries due to the ogres so when they ran out of food everyone would starve. The piggs would be eaten first, then the goats, then the chickens, then the cows, then the horses and it would keep on going until there would be truly nothing left. 

For the first time in her life Belle felt powerless. She was glad that she wasn't on the front lines like many others her age but she also felt a deep shame that she wasn't. Out there people were fighting for their country. Children were fighting. While Princess Belle of Avonlea was in her castle, with her books, away from all the danger. Where was the fairness in that? 

Belle wasn't naive enough to think that war was in any way honourable. She knew exactly what happened on the battlefield. It was the last place she would ever want to visit. But others did, others who weren't lesser worth than her. The only reason she wasn't out there with them was because of what family she had been born in. 

The army couldn't make the orges retreat nor could her father or his strategists, Belle included. No one could. 

Soon they would be crushed. There was truly nothing anyone could do about that. 

People shouldn't ask themselves who would win the war. Instead they should be asking if the orgers would kill them first or hunger. 

Her bet was on the orgers. 

She had tried several times to find a solution. A clever maneuver, a trick, light-magic, anything! but there was nothing that could be done. They couldn't even flee because of how the battlefield had radically expanded locking them in the city. 

If only she could do something! 

Anything to save her people!

Anything!

"You look troubled Princess. Do you want to tell me what's on your mind?", an unfamiliar voice said from behind her. Making Belle turn. "I'm told I'm a good listener.",

He was old. So old that his white hair had begun to fall from his head. The washed out court clothes he wore had been fine once. But now they just looked like slightly glorified raggs.

"The war.", she answered. "Although that is what everyone is always thinking about.",

"True enough. I have seen more boys and girls leave for the battlefield than those who have returned. And more parents weeping than I'd care to name. Every last one of us wants this war to end.",

A bone deep chill surged through her spurred by knowledge. But this knowledge wasn't the loving generous kind which she could easily access through the now battered library. It was a cold assurance which came from the battlefields, the strategists, the men and women who had lost so much. "It will end just not favourably for us. We will be slayed here in the city and the orgers will win.", 

Perhaps they should be glad over their current state of misery because at least they were alive, for now. 

The man was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "Not necessarily.",

Belle frowned. How could he retain hope that they would live… when the evidence of the opposite were piling up? How could he believe it?

He smiled. "I understand your confusion but there is a way. However it's almost entirely unknown and many do not have the courage to do it. There is this dagger, you see, which controls the Dark One. Currently it's in possession of the Duke of the Frontlands. If you could wield the dagger yourself you could end this war.",

Bile pooled in her gut at the thought. That wasn't right everyone should have the right to freedom, however not all did. Only the thought was enough to make a fire flare up within her. “I would make a man my slave to end the war.”,

“But he is not a man.”,

Belle clenched her jaw, finding the old man much worse company than he had been a moment ago. “I may not know a lot about the Dark One other than that he is the most powerful dark magician of all the realms combined and has a pleasure for making deals but I think that he is still a man, a human, a person behind that monicher.”, Just as she was one behind her title of a princess. 

The man briefly got a curious look in his eyes but it faded quickly. Making Belle wonder if it had been there at all. “You may believe that now but how can you know if you have never truly met him? He might be the monster everyone says he is.”,

“And just how well does everyone know him?”, 

Annoyance mixed with amusement flashed across his face. But once again it was far too brief for Belle to be certain of what she had seen. “He must be either a slave or dead for this war to end.”,

“Dead?”

“If you take the Dark One´s life with the dagger you´ll absorb his power and with it you may do as you please.”,

The idea was starting to sound even less appealing. She´d either have to take the man as her slave. Probably for as long as she lived if Belle wanted to ensure that she would die of natural causes. Or she would have to kill him. Have to plunge the dagger through his heart and watch as the life left his eyes. No, she wouldn't do such a thing. She wouldn´t!

As if he sensed the way her thoughts were heading the man said in a soft voice. “Even though you do not know a lot about the Dark One, surely you must have heard at least pices of what he has done over the centuries. He has burned villages like yours to the ground, has destroyed people's lives when they couldn't pay the price for his deals, has taken children from their mothers and then skinned them. The Dark One is beyond good, beyond saving, beyond being human. Such a creature is better off dead than alive. At least then he can do no harm.”,

Belle grasped for a way out. “If I made a deal-”,

“You wouldn't be able to pay.”,

“I could ask the Duke of the Frontlands!”,

“Do you think he would actually let you borrow his most prized possession? Enslave him or… take his power for yourself. There is no other way.”,

Even though Belle didn't like it she needed the power desperately. Without it, her people would die. Her Papa would die. She would die! Belle toyed with the idea of enslaving the Dark One. She would be a kind master. Cruelty would not be abided. But… kindness often ended in ruin. Belle had heard the stories surrounding her grandfather's death. He had been kind. And he had ended up being molded to the ground by his wife! If she was kind to him she would meet death sooner than she would like. No, if she enslaved him it wouldn't end well for her. Besides wouldn´t death be a kinder option anyway? What life could a slave really have? What joy could they experience? The more she thought about it the more it seemed like a better option.

“So, where is the dagger hidden?”, she asked with a heavy heart.

A hint of a smile touched the old man's face. “Clever.”,

“Sensible.”,

“The Duke has it in his house, I´m told. Probably behind a secret door.”,

Belle nodded. The decision weighed heavily on her. However she was just desperate enough to do it. “Excuse me but I have some reachearsh to do.”,

It was almost nightfall when Belle was called in from the library to join her fathers war council. During the hours she had spent with the books. Reading anything she could find about the Dark One and the Duke. She had found out the Dark One was several centuries old and quite possibly not the same person for nearly half of the time. But it seemed like every Dark One had been more horrible than the former. 

When Belle entered the war council everybody seemed to be in disery. Generals looked terrified, Dukes beat their heads and her Father stood stiller than a mountain. 

“What happened?”, She asked, her clear voice seemed to bounce against the walls.

Still silent her father handed her a letter. There were only a few words in it. But they filled her with an icy fear.

Avonlea will fall when the sky is dark. The letter didn't even mention evakuation. They all knew it was impossible. 

She had to act now.

“Papa, I have found a way to win the war. Avonlea will not fall tonight.”,

A faint hint of life sparkled in his eyes then. Everyone in the room turned to look at her. Some wary, some slightly hopeful.

“Belle, my child.”, Her father said with a pained expression on his face. “It is impossible to win now. All is already lost.”,

“Not if I take the Dark Ones powers, with them I can defeat the ogres and save the realm.”,

Her father blinked. “And how is that to be done?”,

Belle hesitated. She did not want the dagger to become common knowledge. When she was the Dark One it would no doubt be used against her just as it had been used against the current one. “By doing an age old ritual.”, She lied. Her insides clenched as her father swallowed the decietful words.

“And you would do that!”, He said astonished and for the first time in months she saw real hope on her fathers face. “Belle this is wonderful news but let someone else do this a Duke perhaps, or a General.”, 

The men started straightening their posture and fiddling with their swords. Everybody trying to look like the perfect candidate. It would have been so easy to appoint someone else to take the burden of her shoulders but they didn't know what was required. She couldn't do that to them. Besides the old man had come to her, spoken to her, suggested she´d do it. This was her burden to bear alone.

“No, Papa. I'll return before dawn. If the houses are still standing you´ll know if I succeeded.”, With those words Belle turned and walked out of the room. Deaf to her fathers pleas and the mens shouts.

“The Duke wants to see me.”,

“Do you have an appointment, My Lady?”, The guard asked.

Belle hated using her title as a means to an end. But she didn't have time to stand outside the Duke of the Frontlands mansion and argue when Avonlea would fall in a couple of hours. “Your Highness.”, she corrected.

The guard frowned as if she had suddenly presented a new puzzle piece which didn't fit anywhere. “What?”,

“It's dark but I thought everyone would know my face even in a dim light.”,

The guard fumbled for a match. When it was lit his eyes grew wide with recognition and shock. 

“The Duke wants to see me.”, She repeated. “Could you take me to him”, Belle had posed it as a question but judging by the thone of her voice it was really a command. The guard understood that.

“Yes of course, at once, your Highness!”, He said, motioning for her to follow him as he led her inside the house. They passed several corridors all of them having some sort of adornment to show a wealthy man lived inside these walls. A wealthy man with power. 

The guard stopped in front of a door and gave it a firm knock.

“Enter.”, came a voice from the other side of it. 

Belle gripped the hilt of her knife she had hidden in her cloak more firmly. “I can see myself in.”, she said to the guard politely. She didn't want to have anyone witnessing her conversation with the Duke.

He nodded and then respectfully bid her farewell. 

Belle didn't enter the room before she made sure that no one else was around to listen in.

The Duke sat in an armchair by the fire, watching the flames avidly. “About time I was starting to think that you were going to stand there all-”, he cut himself off as he turned around. “Your Grace!”, he exclaimed.

She smiled. However Belle wasn't sure if it reached her eyes. “My Lord.”,

“I did not expect to see you. To what do I owe this visit?”, he asked, licking his lips.

Belle walked closer, still smiling sweetly. “I´m here to ask for a favour, My Lord.”, She was almost close enough to him now.

“If it is within my command I shall grant it.”, The Duke said. There was a gleam in his eyes now which caused her to shudder. “But I would require some kind of payment…”, 

Belle fought very hard to keep the friendly facade. She knew exactly what he had in mind. Too bad for him that he wouldn't get it. She leaned forward slightly and so did the Duke. But instead of him meeting her lips a sharp blade was resting against his throat. Belle gave him a second or two to adjust to the new development before she spoke again. “Ah, I´m sorry, I believe I gave you the wrong impression when I said ask. I meant take. Specifically the Dark One's dagger. Do you mind giving it to me”, once again her question was a command in a very thin disguise.

“You bitch!”, The Duke snarled, understanding dawning in his eyes.

Belle didn't let the insult cut too deep. She had heard too many of them directed at her over the years. That was one of the prices royalty had to pay because no matter how kind you were or what you did to improve your realm there was always someone somewhere who hated you and plotted against you. The only way to beat those people was to be smarter, braver and stronger than them. “Where is it?”,

“Like I´ll tell you. Princess Belle a thief. Who would have thought? You were always a strange one of course, but I doubt anyone would have expected this.”,

Belle´s smile grew cold. “I don't believe you have a choice. I'm holding a blade to your neck and I could easily draw your blood. Now show me the dagger… if you want to live.”, Belle added the last bit on second thought. She wasn´t actually going to kill the Duke, one murder was already one too many. But he didn't know that. And the Duke would definitely cooperate more if he thought his life was in danger.

The Duke's eyes widened in terror. “You wouldn´t…”, but his voice sounded painfully unsure.

“I'm the strange one, remember.”, She told him. Willing to play at everything just to get the dagger. “There's no telling what I might do.”, 

He gulped and made a last desperate effort to stop her from getting what he surely considered as his power. It wasn't his though, he´d had to kill the Dark One to get it. “You need me alive to find it.”,

“That would be the easiest way but I'm sure I could find it by myself.”, Belle said. There was a shift in his eyes then. A shift she had been looking for. She knew he had changed his mind.

“It's behind the tapestry”, Belle thought it was a terrible hiding place. Anyone could have found it if they had just lifted the fabric.

Without easing her grip on the knife Belle said. “Give it to me.”,

Slowly fearing that one hasty move would kill him he drew the tapestry back. Revealing a wavy dagger being held with iron bolts against the wall. 

Belle pressed the knife harder to the Duke's throat, almost drawing blood. “If you try to call on him…”, 

She could feel him tense even more as he took the dagger. And carefully handed it to her. Belle grasped it with her free hand. Then she quickly dropped the knife and used that hand to beat the Dukes skull against the stone wall. He fell unconscious immediately. 

Belle picked up the knife and headed to the gates quickly. She couldn't summon the Dark One here. Anyone could notice if they came by.

She looked at the dagger. A name was written in the metal with beautiful gothic letters, Zoso. 

A prickle of unease filled her. Somehow it was worse murdering someone when she knew his name instead of his moniker. He is evil, she reminded herself. The old noblemans words echoing in her head. He has done horrible things in his life. And now she was about to consume the same darkness that perhaps made him act as such. No! that would not happen to her. She would remain good. She would use the power for good! She would not be dragged into the darkness. She would still be the same person.

No one stopped her as she left the mansion. Belle hoped that she would be far away when the Duke regained consciousness. It would be better for both of them if she was.

Belle didn´t stop until she reached the woods. It was a scheduled area. No one would know what truly transpired there beneath the trees. 

She held the dagger in front of her, tracing the carvings of the Dark Ones name, with her fingers. Soon another name would adjourn it. 

All she had to do to summon him was to say his name three times. “Zoso”, Belle attempted to say but it came out as a whisper. Nerves suddenly overcoming her. She swallowed and said his name again this time louder, stronger. “Zoso.”, Belle took a deep breath. “Zoso. I summon thee.”,

“And what do you command?”, a deep voice said from behind her. Belle turned. 

The Dark One was dressed in a black cloak, the hood was up partly hiding his face but she could still see the silver scales on his skin. 

“Don't move.”, She commanded, her voice soft. He seemed to freeze, his body suddenly defying him. “And don't use magic.” 

Then without any gloating, without second thoughts and without a plea of mercy Belle plunged the dagger into the Dark Ones chest. 

He fell to the ground, his hood dropping from his face in the process. Belle followed him forcing the dagger to go deeper. A ripple of wild satisfaction went through her. She had done it. The power was hers, her people would live and all it had taken was one life. The life of an evil man. 

Slowly the scales began to retreat from his face, showing pink skin beneath it. It was then Belle recognised him. Laying on the ground without his scales and hood was the old nobleman. 

“You!”, She choked. 

Why had he done it? Why had he told her about him? Carefully leading her to make the decision to take his life? He had pulled at her strings, Belle realised. Moving her around like a marionette, to achieve his own death. The decision to kill him had not been her own at all but his. But… no that was not right either. He had pushed her in that direction laying out it plainly before her but he had not actually forced her to take the dagger. He had given her an option even though it didn't really seem like it. Kill him and absorb his power or enslave him or let her people die. She herself had grabbed the dagger.

Dread slowly followed the shock if he had been desperate to make her take his life, would she do the same in a couple of centuries?

“Why did you do it?!”, Belle asked. She had to know, she had to. She would not let him take the mystery with him to his grave. If she knew why, perhaps she would not act like he had.

“My life was such a burden… and now it´s yours to bear”, He laughed. A crazed sound which blended with the wind. “You were such a desperate soul. All I had to do was to show you the alternatives. That was all. And you grasped for the dagger like it was your last saving grace. Magic always comes with a price and now it´s yours to pay…”, Then his body gradually slackened and the light in his eyes went out. Suddenly she was alone in the woods.

Belle drew back the blood coated dagger. The name had changed. The deep inscriptions now formed another one with twists and spirals. Belle Le Fay.

She touched the name with her fingers feeling the inscriptions with her flesh. Blood stained her hands but it was not that which caused the piercing sensation going up her body. Her skin paled. It was like all life was being sucked out of it. Her nails grew into long red claws. Belle felt as if she could hardly breath. She caught sight of her reflection in the blade. Her hair had transformed from chestnut to raven. No it was more than that it was akin to a dark mist swirling around her face. Her lips matched the blood red colour of her nails and her eyes had transformed into yellow reptilian orbs. The price had been paid.


End file.
